Beware of Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing – Identity Theft

 This past month my husband’s identity was stolen!

Unfortunately, my husband is not the only one to be scammed.  Millions of people are unemployed or looking for a second job; as the latter was my husband’s case.  Let’s face it, in today’s day and age it is difficult to live on one income. 

This past summer we lost almost half of our take home income!  As you can imagine it has left us in dire straits.  Years ago whenever we needed to make extra income it was much easier. Unfortunately for us, with advanced age and health issues it has become extremely difficult to find a part time job. 

Years ago one would look in the newspapers, go door to door, or even go to employment agencies to find a job.  Nowadays with so much information, including job opportunities one uses the Internet to find employment. 

Jim thought he was being careful.  He posted his resume on Career Builders (as he has done for years). In this instance Jim received an email in response to a job posting.  Upon receiving the email, Jim did some research regarding the company.  They had a website that “looked” credible; Jim checked them out with the Better Business Bureau; along with some other research; all seemingly checked out. 

Unfortunately for us this was a scam to gain access to Jim’s information and these individuals have opened online credit accounts in Jim’s name along with other pertinent information and have ordered expensive items from these companies.  In return, we continue to receive bills from these online companies for items we have NOT ordered! 

You can imagine our frustration along with embarrassment that we were scammed.  Of course Jim tried to contact the so called company he “thought” he was employed with (of which he never did receive payment for services rendered) to no avail.  The website is still there but he has no access to the website, when he calls he is no longer greeted by a person but a recording that they are not available.  So immediately Jim contacted the major credit bureaus, our local state police, and the police in the state that this company claims to be from, the attorney general and of course the companies that are sending us bills for items we did not purchase. 

When one’s identity and even integrity becomes stolen it is quite an invasion of one’s privacy.  Knowing that someone has all your pertinent information and is using it for their benefit all the while ruining your credit, integrity, and security is quite unsettling. 

God’s Word says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

The devil has not devoured us, but he is nipping our heels (or butt, since Jim feels like he’s been kicked in his pants!).  It’s a shame there are predators out there just waiting to pounce on honest hard working people.  But then again, it’s hard for good Christian individuals to imagine or fathom that someone can prey on innocent children and people who down on their “luck”. 

So, if you are looking for a job, whether full time or part time, beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing – scammers.  Below are a few sites that have some “helps” for those who are looking for employment online. 

http://idtheft.about.com/od/theftmethods/a/EmploymentScams.htm

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchprivacy/a/identity-theft-protection.htm

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchscams/a/fake-job-scams.htm